No More Broken Promises From G8
DEAUVILLE - InterAction is in Deauville this week, joining thousands of international reporters at the G8 summit -- two days of meetings between leaders of the world's most powerful nations which are being held in this pretty seaside town in northern France.
The town is in lock-down mode, with multiple security checkpoints before you can get into the city. The French government has set up reporters (and us) in a giant white tent overlooking Deauville's hippodrome (racetrack). Leaders will be holding their two days of meetings (Thursday and Friday) nearby, with press conferences on both days of the summit.
The "Arab Spring" and democratic change across the Middle East is high on the agenda, as is nuclear security and the aftermath of Japan's terrible earthquake. Sadly, development issues are not front and center during political discussions but we hope world leaders will take some time to check where they are in terms of following through on past pledges made at international summits.
Developing nations can't afford any more broken promises and there needs to be greater transparency and accountability over past commitments, particularly for food, agricultural and health assistance.
Last week, the "Deauville Accountability Report" was released by the G8 Accountabily Working Group. Some of the statistics were hard to decipher and InterAction members Oxfam and ActionAid both criticized how the report was handled. "Cooking the books won't feed anyone" was Oxfam's scathing headline on their press release.
Whether it is smoke and mirrors or not, the cold statistics don't lie. One billion people go hungry every day and G8 leaders need to take bold steps to tackle this.
The Deauville report estimated that only half of pledges made at the G8 summit in L'Aquila, Italy, in 2009 had actually been delivered. The L'Aquila commitment involves $22 billion in increased food and agricultural assistance. In the current context of spiraling food and oil prices, this aid is becoming all the more urgent.
We would also like to see donor funds rebalanced to improve nutrition and reach small-scale producers who face a multitude of problems from climate change to increased transportation costs fueled -- literally -- by those rising oil prices.
One issue not on the official agenda here in Deauville, but which will likely get major media coverage, is the choice of the next leader of the International Monetary Fund. French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde announced at a news conference in Paris today that she plans to run for the top spot.
Civil society groups want an open dialogue with the IMF on the core issues affecting our community. We hope they will follow through on their promise for the selection process to be open, based on merit and transparent. Expect to see the BRIC countries pushing for a European not to be guaranteed the IMF leadership. We'll keep you posted on the mood here as G8 leaders jostle for their choice.
